The Hofstra baseball team lost the first two games of a three-game set against the College of William & Mary Tribe (W&M), 15-1 and 2-1, on Saturday, March 18, with a lack of offensive production proving to be the missing piece for the Pride.
In the first game, the Pride’s Mark Faello got the nod for the Pride, opposite Carter Lovasz for W&M, and got the nod with a quick three-up-three-down in the first inning.
The second inning turned quickly for Hofstra with Faello when he walked three batters before surrendering hits to second baseman Corey Adams and centerfielder Joe Delossantos, which gave W&M an early 3-0 lead.
That was all the offense W&M needed, as the Tribe’s pitching held Hofstra to only six hits in the game. Lovasz earned the win and finished the game with 4.2 innings pitched while giving up only two hits, two walks, with five strikeouts.
“The most important thing that he was doing was getting ahead of hitters,” Catalanatto said. “ We’ve had trouble doing that on our end, but it proves that if you just get ahead and you have the ability to change speeds, you can keep the batters off balance. When you are behind in the count, it is not easy to hit.”
The Tribe continued to pad its lead with another three runs in the fourth inning. In the fifth, Catalanatto had seen enough from Faello and gave the ball to Ryan Rue. Faello had a promising first inning but faltered as the game went along. He finished with 4.1 innings pitched, allowing six runs on seven hits, with five walks and four strikeouts, and was credited with the loss.
“He had a strong first inning, and it seems like a lot of times that’s the way it goes with him,” Catalanatto said. “He battles, and it just seems like in the later innings, he had a tough time throwing strikes. He didn’t attack the zones in those later innings.”
The Tribe continued to add runs in the sixth with a towering two-run home run from third basemen Ben Williamson that made it an 8-0 ball game, draining the life from the Pride. With more timely hits in the inning, W&M stretched their lead to 12-0. Noah Hertzler finished the game in the ninth and sealed the 15-1 win for the Tribe.
In the second game, the Pride sent out John Mikolaicyk against left-handed pitcher Zach Tsakounis for W&M. Hofstra’s offense was once again absent.
There was little action from both teams in the early innings as Mikolaicyk and Tsakounis were dealing their way through each lineup. The Tribe got on the scoreboard first when Williamson singled through the left side to score Delossantos.
Mikolaicyk continued to have his way against the Tribe with a solid outing, finishing the day allowing only three hits and one run, with four strikeouts in 5.2 innings of work.
“His stuff was really good today,” Catalanatto said. “He was working in the strike zone, and if he continues to do that, we will have a chance to be more successful.”
The game remained tight entering the ninth inning when Tank Yaghoubi scored Noah Zertuche with a single to center field off of Hofstra reliever Tristan Nemjo to make it 2-0 W&M.
In the bottom half of the inning, Hofstra had an opportunity to win with runners in scoring position but came up just short. With Kevin Bruggeman on third and Santino Rosso on second, a wild pitch from Tribe’s Rojo Prarie scored Bruggeman to cut W&M’s lead in half. However, the Pride stranded Rosso on third with a strikeout from Nick Marrero and a Matt Pelcher groundout to third, sealing the win for the Tribe, 2-1.
“This was a tough game,” Catalanatto said. “The positive was that we pitched well. I thought John and Nemjo did a great job. We didn’t execute properly in situational hitting, and giving up that run in the ninth was kind of a backbreaker, but I would say definitely some positives out of the way we pitched today.”
The Tribe’s Tsakounis came away with the win allowing only two hits in four innings on the mound. Hofstra continues to struggle this season with a 5-12 overall record and a 1-4 record in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play.
With their next game slated for 12 p.m. on Sunday, March 19, the Hofstra will try to salvage the series against W&M.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Rob Cuni
